Rules, FAQ and Best Of Threads (READ BEFORE POSTING) [Don't troll in strat threads.]

[spamz]

Heads Up SNG Forum Posting Guidelines, FAQ and Essential Reading

Special Thanks to ChicagoRy and Mersenneary for their help with this FAQ. A thanks to Leader and Cwar as well for past work.

Welcome to the HU SNG Forum! This forum is only for Heads Up SNG. Let me state this from the beginning please PLEASE convert and tag your threads with the appropriate game and limit. People should be able to know before opening your thread what stake level it is at and what type of game you’re playing (this will mostly be a choice of: deepstack, regular speed, turbo or superturbo). An example of tagging your title correctly:

********TAG YOUR POSTS********
$57.50 turbo – Two pair gets checkminraised on turn
******************************

If your post is a general question not involving a buy-in level or hand, we strongly encourage you to think about posting it in the beginner's questions thread or making your questions and thoughts more specific. The beginner's questions thread can be found as a sticky on top of the forum.


This guide has three main sections:

1. Posting Guidelines – What to post and what not to post.
2. Frequently Asked Questions
3. Essential Reading – Great reading for all posters.

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POSTING GUIDELINES

What to post and what not to post

- Posting questions about training sites, video sites, where to find books and related questions is not allowed in separate threads. You may ask in the husng regs thread or in the beginner’s questions thread, but first visit the books and publications forum as well as the training site discussion thread before asking your questions. It is likely that the answer lies within those two places.
- Strongly consider posting a hand that exemplifies what you want to know (or make one up) instead of asking a general question.
- BBV type threads will not be tolerated. Do NOT post one hand BBV-style bad beats, even in the hu sng regs thread. You will receive an infraction!
- Heads Up SNG does not allow new threads for personal bankroll questions, questions about which sites have which games (for example where do they have $1 games), or questions about rake. The beginner's questions thread is a perfectly acceptable place to ask any of these questions and you will generally get a better response there than making your own thread.

1. Hands and sessions

Poker is a game of theory and experience applied to a given situation. Many posters have played hundreds of thousands of hands and have studied poker for years, but that does you little good if you don’t explain the situation you’re in. So how do you do this? Well, here are a few tips:

To convert your hands use the inline converter or:
*Pokerhand

Try and include a read, this should include:
-Recent hands
-Your image
-Any relevant tendencies

2. Videos

-Videos are a great way to for you to get help with your overall game. Other posters will be able to see the same reads as you, experience hands in the same order and, if you record your thoughts while you play, get inside your decision making process.
Some tips for making and posting videos:

*Making videos requires screen recording software. CamStudio, which is such a program, is available at no cost and is spyware free.
*Upload your video with Megaupload

Note that it will not be unlikely that - if you have a low post count - people will not be eager to click a link and download something from someone they don’t know. Make sure to also not make your videos too long if you do this if you want a good amount of people commenting. If you’re new here, you may want to consider just posting 2 or 3 hands from the game (pick them carefully) and provide any other relevant reads or notes with it.

Report any suspicious links using the “report post” button found below a user’s post count (the red outlined triangle). Do not click on any link you do not trust.

3. Theory Posts

-Theory posts can come in all shapes and forms but they should be well thought out and complete, preferably including some hand examples and/or specific questions/conclusions.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are good stats?
Stats really aren't that important and generally cannot tell you if you are doing something wrong in a HU SNG (mainly due to changing blindlevels/stack depths and reads being more relevant in general), this is very different from 6max or FR so keep it in mind, stat and/or hud posts and questions should generally be put in the beginner's questions thread.

^ Edit ^ Thought out posts about stats can be relevant, particularly with advances in the statistical tracking area of poker, however, always make sure that any posts about stats have a purpose and a relevant sample (usually thousands of games). Always avoid "are these stats good?" type posts or "what am I doing wrong? Here are my stats" as they are almost always too general to be helpful.

What should I do if I see a post that is inappropriate?
Please hit the "report post" button, it looks like this

How many buyins do I need to move up to the next level?
Negative variance in heads up sngs is highly dependent on your winrate. Some professionals in slower and deeper structures experience very little negative variance while some of the top professionals in faster structures experience some of the largest variance in poker.
Generally speaking, 20-30 buy-ins for hu sngs would be on the aggressive side for a bankroll considering you’re not playing a super-slow (deepstacks on ftp/reg speeds on stars) or super-fast (superturbos on ftp) structure, most professional hu sng players use 35+ though. Superturbos can require 100 buy-ins easily, while deepstacked hu sng’s can be as low as 10 buy-ins really.

If you have a specific question about this topic, the beginner's questions thread is a great place to ask it.

What should I use to keep track of my winrate?
Sharkscope, Poker Tracker, Tourney manager, Holdem Manager, Poker Tourney and Excel are all good ways to keep track. Make sure you check with any poker site that you play on prior to using these tools, as some poker sites have banned the use of tools that other poker sites allow. Some poker sites even monitor player’s running processes while the poker client is up for banned software.

Should I move up?
This topic is hugely dependent on you, posts about your specific situation will not be allowed, use the beginner's questions thread for this and make sure you provide all the possible info concerning experience, volume, ROI, etc.

What’s a good win rate for the [insert certain level here]’s?
ROIs are hugely affected by stakes, speed of the structure, skill of the opponent, tables you are playing, short and mid term variance and more. There is a lot of misinformation out there. ROIs for slower structures can be in the 20-30% range and even higher in some structures and levels. ROIs for faster structures may peak as low as 3% or as high as 15%. Specific questions about ROI should go in the beginner's questions thread.

What is SAGE?
SAGE is an unexploitable system. That means its not optimal and will not win you the most money however it is a very good system to know and understand. For some discussion on SAGE or other end-game systems, click here.

Are there any books out about HU SNG’s?
Collin Moshman has a book titled "Heads Up No Limit Hold Em" and can be found in the 2+2 store. It is widely accepted as the only book substantially dealing with heads up sngs currently available.

Who should I get for a coach? Can I coach myself?
No coaching threads of any kind are allowed. If you are looking for a coach you can visit the poker coach listings forum, if you would like to advertise coaching you may contact I BE FORUM COP to purchase an ad. Coaches may not post about their coaching or advertise in any way in the heads up sng forum.

If you are interested in offering free coaching as a way to give back to the community or work on your coaching skills, please post in this thread (no spamming, strictly free coaching please).

I am looking to start or join a study group or I am looking for a partner/buddy/friend to study with?

Please use this thread for anything related to study groups, peers, buddies, etc. Make sure to read the guidelines at the top of the thread.

How do I use the 2+2 search engine?
This should help.

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ESSENTIAL READING



HU SNG In-Game Theory

Beginning

HU SNG preflop basics
Quick thread about preflop raise sizing from the BTN
ChicagoRy's detailed introduction to the 25-50 blind level
Quick review of playing with 20 BBs or less
Cwar's beginner's guide to HU SNG’s
Cwar on continuation betting
Somekid on continuation betting
Two articles by ChicagoRy: Dealing with limpers; dealing with constant min-bettors
Quick list of options for dealing with 100% BTN limpers who stab on every flop
Low limit HU SNG video is reviewed
Low limit HU SNG hand history is reviewed
ChicagoRy's Tip of the Week: Check Raise Bluffing the Flop

Intermediate

frede89 tries to deal with a maniac-overbettor
phatjeffrey vs xSCWx videos and discussion
jay_shark on 3-betting
mersenneary's 22 Flawed Reasonings in HU SNG Poker

Advanced

mersenneary discusses over-betting
A detailed analysis of the importance and function of 'hourly rate'
skates compares inflection points when raising with shallow stacks against villains who have different 3-betting behaviors
spamz' classic post about how to approach the endgame in a HU SNG
Insane_Steve's endgame calculator
Insane_Steve explains the theory and practice of 3-bet shoving from the BB when ~25 BBs deep

Some interesting handdiscussions

Turbofly calls down with bottom pair
3-betting with 99: A difficult spot leads to some helpful discussion about 3-betting
dboy23 induces a bluff-raise from a LAG and then wonders what he got himself into
spamz slowplays trips and doesn’t know what to do now
Discussion about what to do with a semi-strong hand against a frequent 3-bettor


Husng: Out-of-game Theory

Rumnchess Thought of the Year 2010 (Four Pillars of Success)
4 man vs 2 man discussion
dboy23's Bankroll Management Guide and
More discussion and
Even more discussion and
Some more right here
jay_shark’s sample size and sow confident you can be about your winnings


Psychology/Mental Approach

Success, Failure, and the Downswinging Mindset
Hince: You Suck at Poker
mjw006: Pooh-bah thoughts
How to deal with mental fatigue


spamz’ HH Reviews
spamz' first hand history review
spamz' second hand history review
spamz' third hand history review
spamz' fourth hand history review
spamz' fifth hand history review
spamz' sixth hand history review
spamz' seventh hand history review
spamz' eighth hand history review
spamz' ninth hand history review
spamz' tenth hand history review
spamz' eleventh hand history review

Heads Up SNG Videos on 2p2

15 minute video of Mersenneary Playing $180 Buyin
RyPac13 discusses leading the flop OOP in raised pots
Barewire and Skates discuss moving from heads up cash to heads up sng
Fydor_8 reviews a match he played at the $230 turbo speed level

Wells/Interviews
Melanie Weisner's Well
Croixdawg's Well
xSCWx's Well
PrimordialAA's Well
livb112's Well
Indy Interview with The Camel
Indy Interview with BCM11
Indy Interview with ThePhenom919
Indy Interview with Stevesbets


Entertainment threads (warning: no strategical content found in most threads!)
No Money Heads Up Everyone's Solid
Cog Dissonance - You're a Joke
CowboyMarco - Sittin In My Trap
Do the Flash Dance!
Roshambo LEVEL 6 Thinking
The Dragon - Advanced Roulette Theory (hidden in this section for risk of extreme profit)
Dealing with players with wide 38-bet ranges
Nemo's “If you see _______ Notify Me"
De-modding ChicagoRy Level.


Other/Misc.
rumnchess: A Guide to Live Poker
Protecting Yourself From Malware
Think about Shania
Peter_rus’s Flopping top pair or higher abilities for some hands.
illunious’ favorite threads on 2+2
Entity’s When a read is not a read
krishan’s How to tell if you are running good or bad (Revised v2)
krishan’s 11 things to help pull out of a downswing...
Classic example of the c/c-c/c (or ILP) line
Ed Miller’s Biggest leaks


Looking for more? Here are additional collections of threads:

User Suggestions I'm Too Lazy to Add
taw420's large collection of 2+2 links

Thanks to everyone who has contributed and helped to make this!

If you have any suggestions for future versions, post them in the beginner’s thread or another low contence thread.

[mersenneary]

Hi all,

I'm going to open up this thread for forum-talk, as I liked how that worked in HUNL. If you think the regs threads are getting too infested with boring hands, if you want moderation to be different, or if you just want to respectfully vent about bad posting, go ahead.

[yaqh]

Originally Posted by Air-Bear

Are these pointless hand histories still frowned upon by the mods in fact? Lately there's been a ********.

yea there's been a ton of "drunk retard makes a bad call and gets there" type stuff lately. rly just not interesting. didnt you guys decide last time we talked about this to start cracking down on that stuff?

might even want to just keep the regs thread limited to reg vs reg hands

[Air-Bear]

Thanks mersenneary.

In my opinion, the majority of the hands posted in the husng regs thread are boring. They are either bad beats, retarded plays by opponents or (seemingly) retarded plays by hero's who are trying to brag.

A hand becomes fun if it is saved by some pics or if it is truely interesting, which is very subjective ofcourse. But ususally if it is a hand of stakes smaller than 200 it's not very cool, because you encounter a lot of retards there so a retarded play is not extraordinary. A hand could also be interesting if it is against a 2+2 reg.

But in the end, if a hand is worth posting, it's usually also worth the effort to find some funny pics too. So I would like the mods to stimulate this (or something similar that makes posting a hand a little more work than copy pasting).

[BitchiBee]

if its boring don't read it?

easy game

[another_rack]

Forum needs new mods, old ones suck

[mersenneary]

Originally Posted by another_rack

Forum needs new mods, old ones suck

We probably could use another one, actually.

[Kvaughan]

Originally Posted by mersenneary

We probably could use another one, actually.

Nah, you're good, you've got Moshman

[Air-Bear]

Originally Posted by BitchiBee

if its boring don't read it?

easy game

If it's boring, don't post it imo

[Quimp]

YouTube vids , "music to grind on" => LC thread.

Mers, can you add that to hide No Blind Increase SNGs on Stars, you have to type "-increase" in the Sit & Go Tournament Fitler field? I looked here first but didn't find it.

Thanks

[palinca]

I think things are going rather ok to be honest, the most annoying things imo were the random LC threads floating around. As for HHs, I don't really mind them, every member should be entitled to one once in a while; obviously if someone starts posting boring ones too regularly, they should be infracted, but I think the thread autoregulates quite well and people don't make that mistake twice.

[ChicagoRy]

Biggest concern from a mod standpoint (and ultimately why I really don't think we need to add an army of mods to enforce a ton of rules we make up): Report posts that you feel need to be deleted/edited and threads you feel need to be locked.

Once you report it, they send an email to Mers and I and whenever we get that it's much more efficient for us to find and take care of the problem.

Try not to report stuff like hand histories in the regs thread from 2 days ago, as everybody has really passed that up by now. But things like flaming in strat threads, beginner/vague stand alone threads that should be put in the beginner's questions thread, that stuff can just be reported and we'll deal with it much more quickly and accurately.

[Air-Bear]

I'd feel like a controllfreakish retard reporting lame hands or graphs in the regs thread tbh. I would just like you (the mods) to disapprove of the posting of those in the regs thread and maybe make a seperate thread for that stuff if people would really feel the urge to post it.

[ChicagoRy]

Originally Posted by Air-Bear

I'd feel like a controllfreakish retard reporting lame hands or graphs in the regs thread tbh. I would just like you (the mods) to disapprove of the posting of those in the regs thread and maybe make a seperate thread for that stuff if people would really feel the urge to post it.

I'm fine with disapproving/discouraging the posting of hands or bad hands and stuff in that thread. I'm also fine with trying to naturally encourage other places to have that stuff posted (we can probably put together another NC thread now that we're split form cash, the volume in the old forum combined with some cash NC threads just made it too cluttered before).

But I'm not going to start reading all those hands if you're too lazy/self conscious about hitting "report post" on posts you guys don't like. Basically, if it bothers you that much, please report it so Mers and I see it and can take care of it. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck with what we see.

All that aside, I think the best solution is you guys telling us what you want the regs thread to be, then we can all come up with a way to naturally encourage everybody to fall in line efficiently. And to help us, report stuff that isn't following the rules or is detracting. We don't need to make another 6 people green to do it, we just need people to help us identify what the community dislikes.

[miniwiz]

make a pokerfun containment thread,he posts too much silly stuff and clutters up the forum imo